Today's News

October marks the beginning of Senior Vaccination Season. From now until March, people of all ages are susceptible to influenza. Data by Flu.gov show that each year about 200,000 people in the United States are hospitalized and an average of 23,600 people die of seasonal flu-related causes.

As high as 90 percent of the deaths occur in people age 65 and older. Most of these deaths could be prevented with a simple vaccine.

Susie Laney Sowell West, 92, passed away Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011, at Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte. She was born November 23, 1918, in Union County, N.C., a daughter of the late Goodman Frank Laney and Lula Josey Laney. Mrs. West was married to the late Dorch Lee Sowell and the late Walter “Pete” Blease West. She was a Charter Member of Liberty Freewill Baptist Church and was retired from J.P. Stevens in Great Falls.

The Lancaster County School District is waiting for word from the S.C. Department of Education on whether it will adopt a national set of common core standards, but moving ahead with plans to implement them.

The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a state-led, nonpartisan effort of the National Governors Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers to set national English language arts (ELA) and mathematics standards.

We’ve sprung through spring and splashed through summer. Autumn splendor is on its way; Carolina blue skies will backdrop leaves of ambers, ochres and rich reds. Temperatures will drop and fall foliage will soon follow. Don’t miss a chance this year to see fall in all its majesty.

While there are countless locations to enjoy autumn colors right here in Lancaster County – including your own backyard – you can also pack a picnic and take a day or weekend trip to soak up the changing of seasons.

It has been a whale of a season for Lancaster High School junior swimmer Jory Pettit.
Pettit capped the 2011 swim campaign with an individual state crown in the 50-yard freestyle at the recent Class AAAA state swim meet.
Pettit brilliantly topped a tough field, edging Byrnes High School’s Alex Wood by a slim margin.
Pettit’s winning 21.47 was the result of a fast finish. Wood, who won the 100-yard freestyle state crown, was a close second in 21.61.

Last week we celebrated one of our nation’s most overlooked holidays – Columbus Day, the annual observance of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the Americas. It was Oct. 12, 1492, that the explorer first spotted land after a two-month voyage from Europe.
Columbus Day has been a federal holiday since 1970.
Today, it is primarily observed in schools, used to teach students a history lesson about America’s dawning days.